Guggenheim Issues Positive Forecast for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price target upped by Guggenheim from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on DG. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.16.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.3 %

DG opened at $91.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 10,333 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,401,000 after buying an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.